An instructional unit, "Coping in the World of Work: Practice in Problem Solving," designed to assist 11th and 12th grade high school students in developing the ability to solve vocational adjustment problems was developed and evaluated. Instructional goals of the unit included the following: (1) To become acquainted with the range of job…

Guided Design is an approach to course design aimed at developing a student's decision-making skills as well as teaching specific principles and concepts. A seven-point hierarchy of educational needs is defined, including: (1) self-preservation, (2) safety, (3) belonging, (4) respect, (5) knowledge, (6) sensitivity-sensibility, and (7)…

Award winning projects in K-12 and college level economics are described in this publication. There are two major sections. Section I describes winning projects for 1979-80. A senior research seminar in economics offered undergraduate students a chance to build inexpensive, simplified forecasting models of the U.S. economy. Each student develops…

Presented are ways to teach pupils the concept of "sphere" with a methodology far removed from memorization of a formal definition of the concept. The material illustrates an approach to teaching that focuses on open exploration of ideas with children. Many experiments and starting points for exploration are suggested. This document has…

This paper reported the results of a study designed to determine whether certain instructional strategies are superior to others in teaching problem solving to high school chemistry students. The effectiveness of four instructional strategies for teaching problem solving to students of various proportional reasoning ability, verbal and visual…

This document is written for middle school teachers of grades five through nine who do not have specialized backgrounds in geometry. It is arranged in three parts. The first part provides a brief overview of the geometry curriculum of the middle school that includes the present state of affairs, a rationale for inclusion of geometry in the…

An attempt is made to clarify the aims of critical training in academic subjects at the higher education level. Additionally, common motifs of thought in the extensive material of cognitive criticism are considered, and the material itself is synthesized. Attention is also directed to the criteria of essentiality and implications for teaching. Two…

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual basis for advocacy of an inquiry-based instructional model. Focusing on the teacher as inquirer, the paper discusses the nature of inquiry, presents its conceptual framework and describes in detail the use of question strategies in the preschool program. The definition of inquiry analyzes…

Intended for administrators, the handbook provides an overview to Project SOCRATES, a program for academically gifted fourth and fifth graders designed to expand academic capabilities for problem solving, creative thinking, evaluation, leadership, and the ability to adjust to change. Sections address the following areas: statement of philosophy;…

This manual for elementary school teachers discusses the stages of social reasoning and suggests methods for establishing a classroom and school-wide community to aid students in social reasoning and self-governance. The document contains five sections. Section one focuses on the stages of social reasoning according to William Damon: premoral…

The concept of general education, its specific goals, and its role in the college curriculum are discussed. The goals of general education appear to center around teaching students to think analytically and to synthesize ideas into a general understanding. It is suggested, however, that these objectives tend to get lost in the specifics of…

This document explores some aspects of Competency Based Teacher Education (CBTE) in the area of elementary mathematics teaching methods. The essential and distinguishing features of CBTE are examined. The following topics are discussed in detail: (1) how competencies may be identified; (2) the effects of a competency orientation on methods…

A survey of computer use was conducted in 1974 in a small, nonrandom sample of Massachusetts colleges and universities. Allowing for inflation, but adjusting for the increase in computer power per dollar, it is clear that significantly more computer power is being devoted to instruction--both "with" and "about" the computer.…

A problem solving case method of teaching practical pathology is described, illustrated, and compared with more traditional teaching methods. Advantages include: emphasis of the relevance of pathology to clinical medicine; encouragement of self-assessment; economy of equipment costs and staff time. (Author/LBH)

Student teachers (N=21) in elementary classrooms for mildly handicapped learners were randomly assigned to training and supervision in either databased problem-solving instructional approaches or conventional treatments. Teachers in the databased condition had significantly greater effects on reading achievement and off-task behavior control. No…